Introductions and Conclusions

1. Introductions and Conclusions This presentation will explain the functions of conclusions, offer strategies for writing effective ones, help you evaluate your drafted conclusions, and suggest conclusion strategies to avoid.

2. About Intros and Conclusions • Introductions and conclusions can be the most difficult parts of papers to write. • It’s often easier to write these after you’ve written your body. • You still have to have a thesis, though!!! • While the body is often easier to write, it needs a frame around it. • An introduction and conclusion frame your thoughts and bridge your ideas for the reader. • Just as your introduction acts as a bridge that transports your readers from their own lives into the “place” of your analysis, your conclusion can provide a bridge to help your readers make the transition back to their daily lives. • Such a conclusion will help them see why all your analysis and information should matter to them after they put the paper down.

3. Why bother writing a good introduction?

4. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. • The opening paragraph of your paper will provide your readers with their initial impressions of your argument, your writing style, and the overall quality of your work. • Weak Introduction: • A vague, disorganized, error-filled, off-the-wall, or boring introduction will probably create a negative impression. • Strong Introduction: • A concise, engaging, and well-written introduction will start your readers off thinking highly of you, your analytical skills, your writing, and your paper. • This impression is especially important when the audience you are trying to reach (your instructor) will be grading your work.

5. Important road map for the rest of your paper. • Your introduction conveys a lot of information to your readers. • what your topic is, • why it is important • how you plan to proceed with your discussion. What it provides: + a thesis that will assert your main argument. + give the reader a sense of the kinds of information you will use to make that argument + the general organization of the paragraphs and pages that will follow. After reading your introduction, your readers should not have any major surprises in store when they read the main body of your paper.

6. Ideally, your intro make your readers want to read your paper • The introduction should capture your readers’ interest, making them want to read the rest of your paper. • Some Openers: get your readers to see why this topic matters • a compelling story/anecdote • a fascinating quotation • an interesting question • a stirring example • one or more pertinent – perhaps surprising – statistics • drawing an analogy

7. Strategies for Effective Intros • Try writing your introduction last • The writing process can be an important way to organize your ideas, think through complicated issues, refine your thoughts, and develop a sophisticated argument • an introduction written at the beginning of that discovery process will not necessarily reflect what you wind up with at the end • Don’t be afraid to write a tentative introduction first and then change it later.

8. Start by thinking about the question (or questions) you are trying to answer • Your entire essay will be a response to this question, and your introduction is the first step toward that end. • Your direct answer to the assigned question will be your thesis • use the question as a jumping off point. Imagine that you are assigned the following question: • Education has long been considered a major force for American social change, righting the wrongs of our society. Drawing on the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, discuss the relationship between education and slavery in 19th-century America. Consider the following: how did white control of education reinforce slavery? How did Douglass and other enslaved African Americans view education while they endured slavery? And what role did education play in the acquisition of freedom? Most importantly, consider the degree to which education was or was not a major force for social change with regard to slavery.

9. Focusing on Prompt Questions • You will probably refer back to your assignment extensively as you prepare your complete essay • the prompt itself can also give you some clues • looking at the way the professor set up the question can sometimes give you some ideas for how you might answer it. • it starts with a broad statement, that education has been considered a major force for social change, and then narrows to focus on specific questions from the book. • start off with a big picture sentence or two about the power of education as a force for change as a way of getting your reader interested and then focus in on the details of your argument about Douglass.

10. Decide how general or broad your opening should be. • Keep in mind that even a “big picture” opening needs to be clearly related to your topic • an opening sentence that said “Human beings, more than any other creatures on earth, are capable of learning” would be too broad for our sample assignment about slavery and education. • The question you are asking determines how “broad” your view should be. In the sample assignment above, the questions are probably at the “state” or “city” level of generality. But the introductory sentence about human beings is mismatched—it’s definitely at the “global” level. When writing, you need to place your ideas in context—but that context doesn’t generally have to be as big as the whole galaxy!

11. Open with an attention grabber (hook) • An intriguing example (for example, the mistress who initially teaches Douglass but then ceases her instruction as she learns more about slavery) • A provocative quotation (Douglass writes that “education and slavery were incompatible with each other”) • A thought-provoking question (given all of the freedoms that were denied enslaved individuals in the American South, why does Frederick Douglass focus his attentions so squarely on education and literacy?)

12. A Puzzling Scenario • Frederick Douglass says of slaves that “[N]othing has been left undone to cripple their intellects, darken their minds, debase their moral nature, obliterate all traces of their relationship to mankind; and yet how wonderfully they have sustained the mighty load of a most frightful bondage, under which they have been groaning for centuries!” Douglass clearly asserts that slave owners went to great lengths to destroy the mental capacities of slaves, yet his own life story proves that these efforts could be unsuccessful.

13. A vivid and perhaps unexpected anecdote • “Learning about slavery in the American history course at Frederick Douglass High School, students studied the work slaves did, the impact of slavery on their families, and the rules that governed their lives. We didn’t discuss education, however, until one student, Mary, raised her hand and asked, ‘But when did they go to school?’ That modern high school students could not conceive of an American childhood devoid of formal education speaks volumes about the centrality of education to American youth today and also suggests the significance of the deprivation of education in past generations.”

14. More Strategies • Pay special attention to your first sentence. • Start off on the right foot with your readers by making sure that the first sentence actually says something useful and that it does so in an interesting and error-free way. • Be straightforward and confident. • Do not announce what you’re going to do, just do it. • There are times for this like philosophy papers and science reports

15. 5 Kinds of Ineffective Intros • The Place Holder Introduction • when you don’t have much to say • contains several sentences that are vague and don’t really say much • they exist just to take up the “introduction space” in your paper • if you had something more effective to say, you would probably say it, but in the meantime this paragraph is just a place holder • Example • Slavery was one of the greatest tragedies in American history. There were many different aspects of slavery. Each created different kinds of problems for enslaved people.

16. The restated question introduction • can sometimes be an effective strategy, but it can be easy to stop at JUST restating the question instead of offering a more specific, interesting introduction to your paper. • The professor who wrote your writing assignment does not need to read a whole paragraph that simply restates the question. Try to do something more interesting. • Indeed, education has long been considered a major force for American social change, righting the wrongs of our society. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass discusses the relationship between education and slavery in 19th century America, showing how white control of education reinforced slavery and how Douglass and other enslaved African Americans viewed education while they endured. Moreover, the book discusses the role that education played in the acquisition of freedom. Education was a major force for social change with regard to slavery.

17. The Webster’s Dictionary introduction. • begins by giving the dictionary definition of one or more of the words in the assigned question. • it may be far more interesting for you (and your reader) if you develop your own definition of the term in the specific context of your class and assignment or if you use a definition from one or more of the sources you’ve been reading for class. • if you feel that you must seek out an authority, try to find one that is very relevant and specific. Perhaps a quotation from a source reading might prove better? • Example: Webster’s dictionary defines slavery as “the state of being a slave,” as “the practice of owning slaves,” and as “a condition of hard work and subjection.”

18. The “dawn of man” introduction • generally makes broad, sweeping statements about the relevance of this topic since the beginning of time. • usually very general (similar to the place holder introduction) and fails to connect to the thesis. • you may write this kind of introduction when you don’t have much to say—which is precisely why it is ineffective. • Since the dawn of man, slavery has been a problem in human history.

20. About Conclusions • Your conclusion is your chance to have the last word on the subject. • The conclusion allows you • to have the final say on the issues you have raised in your paper • to summarize your thoughts • to demonstrate the importance of your ideas • to propel your reader to a new view of the subject. It is also your opportunity to make a good final impression and to end on a positive note. • Your conclusion can go beyond the confines of the assignment. • allows you to consider broader issues • make new connections • elaborate on the significance of your findings.

21. More About Conclusions • Your conclusion should make your readers glad they read your paper. • Your conclusion gives your reader something to take away that will help them see things differently or appreciate your topic in personally relevant ways. • It can suggest broader implications that will not only interest your reader, but also enrich your reader’s life in some way. It is your gift to the reader.

22. Strategies for Writing Effective Conclusions • Play the “So What” Game.. Whenever you make a statement from your conclusion, ask the friend to say, “So what?” or “Why should anybody care?” Then ponder that question and answer it. Here’s how it might go: • You: Basically, I’m just saying that education was important to Douglass. • Friend: So what? • You: Well, it was important because it was a key to him feeling like a free and equal citizen. • Friend: Why should anybody care? • You: That’s important because plantation owners tried to keep slaves from being educated so that they could maintain control. When Douglass obtained an education, he undermined that control personally. • You can also use this strategy on your own, asking yourself “So What?” as you develop your ideas or your draft.

23. Return to the theme or themes in the introduction • This strategy brings the reader full circle. For example, if you begin by describing a scenario, you can end with the same scenario as proof that your essay is helpful in creating a new understanding. You may also refer to the introductory paragraph by using key words or parallel concepts and images that you also used in the introduction. • For example, one of the sample papers on the website uses a simile to illustrate how consumer data tracking would look if 3rd parties were real people. • The conclusion could revisit that scenario and show that through legislative reform, the government (law enforcement in the metaphor) would stop this person or that the person would actually be aware.

24. Synthesize, don’t summarize • Include a brief summary of the paper’s main points, but don’t simply repeat things that were in your paper. Instead, show your reader how the points you made and the support and examples you used fit together. Pull it all together.

25. Other Strategies • Include a provocative insight or quotation from the research or reading you did for your paper. • Propose a course of action, a solution to an issue, or questions for further study. This can redirect your readers’ thought process and help them to apply your info and ideas to their own life or to see the broader implications. • Point to broader implications. For example, if your paper examines the Greensboro sit-ins or another event in the Civil Rights Movement, you could point out its impact on the Civil Rights Movement as a whole. A paper about the style of writer Virginia Woolf could point to her influence on other writers or on later feminists.

26. Strategies to Avoid • Beginning with an unnecessary, overused phrase such as “in conclusion,” “in summary,” or “in closing.” Although these phrases can work in speeches, they come across as wooden and trite in writing. • Stating the thesis for the very first time in the conclusion. • Introducing a new idea or subtopic in your conclusion. • Ending with a rephrased thesis statement without any substantive changes. • Making sentimental, emotional appeals that are out of character with the rest of an analytical paper. • Including evidence (quotations, statistics, etc.) that should be in the body of the paper.

27. Four Kinds of Ineffective Conclusions • The “That’s My Story and I’m Sticking to It” Conclusion. • This conclusion just restates the thesis and is usually painfully short. It does not push the ideas forward. People write this kind of conclusion when they can’t think of anything else to say. • Example: In conclusion, Frederick Douglass was, as we have seen, a pioneer in American education, proving that education was a major force for social change with regard to slavery.

28. The “Sherlock Holmes” Conclusion. • Sometimes writers will state the thesis for the very first time in the conclusion. You might be tempted to use this strategy if you don’t want to give everything away too early in your paper. You may think it would be more dramatic to keep the reader in the dark until the end and then “wow” him with your main idea, as in a Sherlock Holmes mystery. The reader, however, does not expect a mystery, but an analytical discussion of your topic in an academic style, with the main argument (thesis) stated up front. • Example: (After a paper that lists numerous incidents from the book but never says what these incidents reveal about Douglass and his views on education): So, as the evidence above demonstrates, Douglass saw education as a way to undermine the slaveholders’ power and also an important step toward freedom.

29. The “America the Beautiful”/”I Am Woman”/”We Shall Overcome” Conclusion. • This kind of conclusion usually draws on emotion to make its appeal, but while this emotion and even sentimentality may be very heartfelt, it is usually out of character with the rest of an analytical paper. A more sophisticated commentary, rather than emotional praise, would be a more fitting tribute to the topic. • Example: Because of the efforts of fine Americans like Frederick Douglass, countless others have seen the shining beacon of light that is education. His example was a torch that lit the way for others. Frederick Douglass was truly an American hero.

30. The “Grab Bag” Conclusion. • This kind of conclusion includes extra information that the writer found or thought of but couldn’t integrate into the main paper. You may find it hard to leave out details that you discovered after hours of research and thought, but adding random facts and bits of evidence at the end of an otherwise-well-organized essay can just create confusion. • Example: In addition to being an educational pioneer, Frederick Douglass provides an interesting case study for masculinity in the American South. He also offers historians an interesting glimpse into slave resistance when he confronts Covey, the overseer. His relationships with female relatives reveal the importance of family in the slave community.